"Hey, Gus, listen… I'll get you your money. I swear!"

"When? When we're both back in prison?" Gus shoved him.

Louie stumbled forward, glaring over his shoulder at the big lug. I should at least wait until you're back in prison. He led the way towards the RV parked in the convenience store parking lot across the street. "They say patience makes the heart grow fonder."

"That's not the saying and you know it, smart aleck. We made a deal and no one-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah… no one breaks a deal with Gus Goose and gets away with it. I get it. Prison set me behind more than I expected it to, okay? Besides, getting that kind of dough takes time and finesse."

"Do you wanna see what my fist thinks of your finesse?" He raised his knuckles to his beak.

"Heh." Louie rubbed the back of his neck as he stared down at Gus's massive fist. He knew those punches all too well. "You know, I think I'm good." He pointed towards the RV. "I'm just gonna grab that thing I mentioned before. Our ticket to millions and such." He ducked into the RV. At this point, there was no avoiding Gus. The sooner he could satisfy the brute's curiosity and convince him that he could make them more than the mere thousands that he had promised back in prison, the sooner Gus would leave and his brothers would be both safe and blissfully ignorant.

"Now… where is that serum?" he mumbled, reaching into the secret compartment and feeling around for the towel. This serum literally has lives riding on it. Where is it? He stretched his arm back as far as it would go. Nothing. Wait. He grabbed a hold of something. Square… that's not the serum. He pulled it out. A chocolate bar?! He blinked.

"I haven't kept candy in his stash for years. What's this doing in there?" He checked the best-by date and, sure enough, it was new. Not some ancient candy relic wasting away in the crevices of Uncle D's RV.

That's odd. Huey's busy distracting that dusty old director and there's no way Dewey could have found my stash. I was the last one here… I literally just held the serum in my hands just a few minutes ago!

"Hurry it up in there!"

Louie glanced around. His skin went cold. This isn't our RV! This RV was littered with clothes, books, food, and other daily items. Someone was living in this RV and it wasn't his family.

He scrambled out of the RV and looked down the line of parked cars to see Uncle D's RV several spaces away. Wow! What are the odds of finding two identical RVs, that somehow survived the 80s, in the same small convenience store parking lot in Duckburg?

He smirked at Gus and shrugged. "Eh, what do you know? It's the wrong RV."

"Wrong RV?!"

Louie ignored him, leading the way to Uncle D's RV, torn between hoping that his brothers would somehow find a way to stop Gus and hoping they wouldn't show up at all.

Gus grumbled and growled under his breath but followed him.

Louie went back to his hiding place only to find it open. I didn't leave it open…. He felt inside and sure enough, no serum. No, no, no, no. "Where is it?" He looked around. The broken cabinet Huey rammed his head into was still hanging from one hinge and the silly string from their childhood silly string war was still dyed into the ceiling. This is definitely our RV… So where is it?"

"Looking for this?"

Louie spun around to see a kid, who looked about 10 or so years old, hanging down from the bunk above the table. "Who are you?"

The kid held up the green vial and swung it back and forth in plain view before swinging himself up onto the bunk. "I ask the questions around here, bub. And I don't tell strangers in green hats my name." He narrowed his eyes.

"Oh, but apparently you trespass on green hatted strangers' property and steal their stuff." Louie crossed his arms over his chest and focused on that little green vial dangling between the kid's fingers.

The kid sprawled out on the bunk like he owned the place. "Well, you're one to talk."

Louie glanced down to see that he still had the chocolate bar in his hand from the other RV. "You want this? Fine, let's make an even trade."

The kid just rolled his eyes and sprawled out like he owned the place. "I don't make trades with aliens."

"Oh so now I'm an alien? First a stranger, now an alien?" Louie leaned back against the cabinets. "What does that make you? Because so far you're a little imp that's stealing my stuff."

The kid sat up. "I'm just a kid. But I've spent the better part of my life studying aliens and you seem like one to me. You show up in a van just like mine, you're wearing waaay too much green to be a real person, you have a giant friend out there guarding the door, and you're carrying around green ooze." He examined the vial of growth serum. "If anyone was an alien lifeform, it'd be you."
Louie internally groaned. Ugh, a nut job. Greeaaat. "How do I know you're not an alien that just copied our RV?"

"Um, because I'm not. Duh." The kid hopped off the bunk and landed in the booth. He had a sneaking little grin on his face that sorta resembled one that Dewey often sported.

A kid that thinks too much of himself? Oh yeah, I grew up with two brothers just like that. "Just tell me what I can do to get that serum back."

The kid crossed his arms, securing the vial between them. "Prove to me that you're not an alien and that this isn't some green goop that will melt the earth's core and kill our planet."

Louie blinked. "Wow, do you read scifi much?" He smirked, but the kid wasn't about to smile back. He took a step closer. "I don't have time for games, kid. That vial you have there is a prototype serum. I'm not an alien but I was hired by the government to acquire this from a terrorist lab. That goon outside? He's waiting to escort me back to Washington. If you don't hand over that vial, you could endanger this country and potentially even the world." Hey, it's a stretch but this kid clearly lives to someday be part of a world-saving adventure. May as well give him one. It's always worked for Dewey.
Opening his hands and looking at the serum, the kid paused. He looked back at Louie and laughed. "Oh like I'm that easy to fool! What a load of baloney!"

Louie rolled his eyes. "Trust me, you'd prefer that over the truth."

"Try me."

"Name first, kid. Information isn't free."

The kid stared at the floor for a moment. "Alright. But if you're an alien, you can't inhabit my body because I have aluminum lining my hat."

Louie rolled his eyes. "Still not an alien but okay."

"The names Philbert, but you can call me Phil, I guess. Do aliens use nicknames?"

"I don't know. But I'll be sure to ask if I ever meet one." He raised his brow and smirked. "Philbert? Seriously? Who names a kid Philbert? That's like an 80 year old man's name."

"I don't know. What kind of a name is Llewellyn?"

"Wait, how did you-"

Phil hopped off the bench seat and grabbed the piece of trim that covered his secret hiding place. His name was scrawled all across the back. Seven year old Louie liked to use his full name to claim things… much to older Louie's chagrin.

Louie groaned. "Point made. Our parents were cruel." Wait, did he feel a little bit of comradery with his kid? He hated kids. Especially kids who stole his prized possession.

Phil smiled and shrugged. "I suppose no alien would willingly choose the name Llewellyn. Maybe you're not an alien."

At least that dumb name is good for something… but not anything I could have expected.

"I'm coming in there if you don't get out here!" Gus growled from outside.

"Give me a minute!" Louie called back, cringing at the thought of Gus entering the situation. He held his hand out. "Can I just have my serum back?"

Phil pulled back. "Not until you tell me the truth. I need to know what's at stake here. What if I'm saving the world?"

Louie heaved a sigh and rubbed his temple. "Listen, kid-"

"Phil."

"Phil… by giving me back the serum, you may not be saving the world but you'll save me and my family from a whole lot of hurt. That thug out there?"

Phil nodded, his eyes watching his every move.

"He's a gang leader that I owe money to. He's going to hurt my brothers, my mom, my uncles, my whole family if I don't get him what he wants. That serum is the key to making millions in the right hands. I'm the only one capable of using it to its full potential. Please?" He gave the most honest eyes he could. I mean, come on, not even my brothers get this kind of treatment.

Phil stared into his eyes and then down at the serum before handing it over. "Sorry. I… I guess this is sort of a world saving moment. Your world. And this time I can tell that you're telling the truth." He smiled up at him.

Louie shook his head and smiled. Kids are weird. This one in particular. "Thanks, kid." He handed him the chocolate bar. "Stay in here. I don't want Gus to see you and get us both in trouble." He slipped out of the RV to give Gus his pitch and hopefully save their lives in the process. No biggie.

Maybe he had a bit of that "world saving" bug in him too… you know, if he hadn't caused it to be in danger in the first place.